Mike Brooker and T.J. Cousins have been first in one another’s hearts for six years.

On Monday, they formalized their commitment, becoming the first Kenosha County couple to sign up for Wisconsin’s new domestic partnership registry.

Brooker and Cousins, of Kenosha, crossed the threshold of County Clerk Mary Schuch-Krebs’ office minutes before it opened at 8 a.m. Couple No. 2, Kenosha residents Diane Giles and Gayle Clark-Taylor, followed close behind.

The recently adopted program, which took effect Monday, allows same-sex couples to register to receive 43 of the some 120 protections and rights afforded to married couples. These include medical access, inheritance and death benefit protections.

Brooker, 31, and Cousins, 45, were excited to sign up.

“It’s about time the state recognizes and stops discriminating against a group of people,” Cousins said.

Demand was lighter than expected in the Kenosha County clerk’s office Monday morning. The first two couples were the only two over the course of the morning, Schuch-Krebs said. Only two more had signed up by day’s end, with another being turned away because they lacked the required documentation.

Long waits did not greet couples in other parts of the state, as well.

About 20 people lined up outside the Dane County clerk’s office in Madison by 7:30 a.m., while the Milwaukee County clerk’s office had taken just 13 applications as of about 11 a.m.

There are about 14,000 same-sex couples in Wisconsin, according to U.S. Census figures.

Brooker and Cousins made it a festive affair at the Kenosha County Administration Building, with Brooker’s mother and stepfather, Kathy and Julio Polanco, tagging along.

The group was headed out for breakfast after the clerk’s office, with perhaps another celebration to follow in the near future, Kathy Polanco said.

“We’re from Illinois,” said Polanco, of Waukegan. “We wish we were as progressive as Wisconsin.”

The Legislature and Gov. Jim Doyle enacted the partnership language as a provision in the recently-adopted state budget.

Social conservatives are challenging it, however.

Wisconsin Family Inc., an advocacy organization, has asked the state Supreme Court to review whether the language violates a 2006 amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman and prohibits anything “substantially similar,” such as civil unions.

The court has not indicated whether it will hear the case.

Brooker said he thinks it was unfortunate that the potential Supreme Court case was attracting attention. But, he added, he did not expect the challenge to prevail.

“I don’t see how 43 of 200 benefits is ‘substantially similar’ to marriage, anyway,” Brooker said.

Cousins suggested all unions — same- and opposite-sex, alike — should take on the form of legal partnerships, with marriage reserved as a religious option for those who choose to partake.

In the meantime, the two said they were satisfied with what’s been afforded to them.

“I think it’s a good beginning, definitely,” Brooker said.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.